Brewer's Hardware Kettles

[bnhocking]

Man when I built my setup it was blichmann or polarware, I would love a stout or brewers hardware but they need a liquid level like blichmann's. I have punched holes in my blichmann for a herms setup and used cam locks. I can pretty much pump wide open since the cam locks are so restrictive. I have seen (compaired to my cam locks) massive flow rates with a march pump and triclover fitting using the same 1/2 inch plumbing. Now brewers hardware just need a good liquid level, even it it was just scribed in on the inside of the kettle, and a chugger pump with triclover fitting already on it.

 

[branman]

I know this is an old thread but has anyone purchased a Brewers Hardware kettle recently? I wish they would put the dip tube in the middle of the mashtun and maybe they have I plan on ordering from them soon.. hlt, mlt, and bk...

 

[Pitbull1963]

I just received a 20 gallon brewers hardware kettle Tuesday. I will be using it as my boil kettle. I'm glad the dip tube isn't in the middle. Makes it a little better when whirlpooling. I have not brewed with it yet, but the quality is excellent. I also love the fact that they will weld what ever you need, where ever you need it. One stop shopping.

 

[bob352]

I have been using a brewers hardware kettle with the dip tube on the side.
It works well as my bk.

 

[basline]

Can any of you folks with the 20 gallon kettle speak to how easy/difficult it is to scrub the bottom to clean it? At 25.25" even with long arms it seems like it might be tough to scrub.
Also, how is the thermometer height for 5 gallon batches?

I've been shopping for a new brew kettle to upgrade/go electric, and after much back and forth I'm close to pulling the trigger on the 20 gallon kettle. I a big fan of the narrow diameter and tall height for doing a mix of 5 and 10/15 gallon batches. But I'm a little worried its so tall that it may be hard to reach in and scrub the bottom. When I stuck the measuring tape on my current keggle I was surprised to see the brewer's hardware kettle is 2" taller. I find it a huge pain scrub the bottom of the keggle when it needs it, but maybe the additional height is more than offset by not having the cut-off lip to contend with.

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but as best I could tell this is the only brewer's hardware kettle thread. Any feedback would be much appreciated.

 

[FoCobrewguy]

No issues reaching the bottom of mine I don't have long arms either. After soaking in pbw have never had to scrub to hard. When I ordered mine I picked the height for the thermometer so it can be wherever you want. 20 gallon is definitely worth it and I agree brewers hardware has the best geometry of any kettle I have seen.

 

[Vesteroid]

I just received my 20 gallons...and I am tall guy with long arms and I can just barely reach the bottom of the kettle. This could be the table height I have, but my armpit is more or less on the top if I drop a tri clamp gasket in the kettle.

 

[FoCobrewguy]

I just put mine on the ground if I need to scrub. But I normally clean my kettle in the bathtub at the end the day.

 

[Vesteroid]

How are you folks with these kettles handling knowing how many gallons are in a pot? He mentioned having rulers made in the first quarter but I don't want to wait for that?

I thought of marking a dowel with a sharpie but wondered how the ink holds up with all the liquids it is going to come into contact with?

 

[Vesteroid]

Finally got around to doing my first brew using these new kettles. I have a Kals electric system so all the associated ports and pumps. I had bad luck with the supplied mash tun false bottom. I run an 805 wide open to recirc the mash and have done so on my 10 gallon kettles before with a jay bird false bottom. I had so much trash get by the supplied one I had to slow the pumps and wait almost the entire 90 minutes for the recirc to clear. I had temp issues (no fault of the kettle) I was trying to use a rtd in a female npt-1pm.5" tri clover connector and it would not read the mash temp well...was reading 20 below what a thermopen was reading.

Long story short, trying to get the thermopen down into the mash stirred it up again and I had to circulate for another 20 minutes to calm it down.

The false bottom is just a perforated plate with solid rod legs so there are no sides like on a NorCal fb. The diameter is about .125 shy of the diameter of the kettle.

I reached out to Curtis to see what he believes may be wrong, and ordered new t's for my temp readings.

 

[bob352]

I had the same problem with the mash tun false bottom leaking grain.
I made a gasket fix it:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=1609858&postcount=2
The gasket works really well.

I can't run my march pump wide open without pulling wort faster than it drains off the bed.
I use a grant so I can't pull wort faster than it will drain.

 

[jimyson]

How are you folks with these kettles handling knowing how many gallons are in a pot? He mentioned having rulers made in the first quarter but I don't want to wait for that?

I thought of marking a dowel with a sharpie but wondered how the ink holds up with all the liquids it is going to come into contact with?

I bought a 24" stainless steel rod that I am going to mark up.

20 gallon pot would need longer as I have a 15 gallon.

Online Metal Supply 304 Stainless S...p/B00CEHFN9A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_KzZIwbXX07YDD

 

[jimyson]

Double post